Out of all the major cities in the U.S. Los Angeles has some of the most diverse topography (Mountains & Hills) that separate many areas of the city and surrounding areas. As a result our tower based mobile systems form a tale of 4 Networks, and not one is perfect. In general it really depends how close you live and work to the nearest tower. Verizon seems to have the best overall coverage and seems its CDMA technology tends to work very well even penetrating the depths of most buildings and parking structures. ATT is a GSM 3G network in most parts of L.A. and is about equal in speed to Verizon, however, especially if you are on an iPhone it tends to drop more calls than any Nokia's that I've owned in the past and used on the ATTA network. (Handsets also play a factor in reception. T-Mobile also (GSM) gives you the best deals on minutes and their customer service is Outstanding, however their Network its 3G and Edge Networks is spotty compared to Verizon and ATT's networks. Sprint like Verizon is on a CDMA network as well although their Networks footprint for high speed data is the smallest out of the four even if it can clock some of the fastest data speeds.

Above all he most important thing to consider when choosing a cell phone provider is whether there is good coverage in the areas you use your phone the most. Here are some ways to check coverage before you sign a contract.

1. All of the major carriers offer coverage maps where you can put in an address, intersection, ZIP code or city and see the strength of the coverage.

For T-Mobile, go to t-mobile.com/coverage; for Sprint, go to sprint.com/coverage; for Verizon Wireless, go to verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController; For AT&T, go to wireless.att.com/coverageviewer.

2. When you go to one of these Web sites, first enter you home address to check the coverage around your house. You might want to also enter your work address, a relative or friend's address, or anywhere else you plan to make a lot of cell phone calls.

3. If you are thinking of getting a data plan with your phone so you can surf the Web or send and receive e-mails, check the maps to see the strength of the data coverage.

4. If you want to compare all of the carriers at the same time, you can use Signal Map (signalmap.com), which relies on user submissions to display signal strength. The site is only as good as the information people submit, so don't rely on it exclusively.

5. If you are still worried that you won't get reception in your neighborhood, ask your neighbors what cell phone carriers they have and whether they get good reception. You should also inquire about how long you have to return the phone and cancel your contract if you don't get service in your house.
Source(s):
Former Employee for ATT Wireless, Intern at Nokia Broadband Networks.
User of all 4 networks ----
Etan Horowitz, Sentinel Staff Writer
http://www.calendarlive.com/news/weather/orl-howto0107dec01,1,7225038.story

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